as charged to the payment made to the Contribution fund; and in no case to exceed the nett sum received by the officer after the deduction of such payment. My lords are aware, that notwithstanding the extreme importance of adhering to this scale as much as possible, there may arise special cases which it would be difficult to foresee or enumerate, with respect to which some departure from this scale may become indispensable, and that authority to provide accordingly should be reserved to their lordships; they are of opinion, how ever, that it should be enacted, that in all such instances the cases should be laid before Parliament, together with a report of the circumstances which have led their lordships to make the exception. 2nd. That where increase of business, or the more correct and efficient execution of the public service, rendered it necessary to preserve establishments either created or enlarged since 1797, the emoluments of the officers composing those establishments should be assimilated, as nearly as the change of circumstances would admit, to those received by persons in similar situations in 1797. 3rd. That if any office existing in 1797 was found to be no longer necessary to the public service, or that its emoluments might be properly reduced, such office should be abolished or reduced in value, as the case might admit. Proceeding upon the foregoing rules, my lords began by a careful comparison of the establishment of the Treasury in 1797, and as it now exists; and finding that a very large increase had taken place both in respect of the number of persons employed, and the amount of their emoluments in some parts of the office, they directed a plan to be prepared of a new establishment, in which no greater number of officers should be retained than was necessary for the execution of the business of the Treasury in its present state, enlarged as it has been by the incorporation of the whole business of the Irish Treasury, as well as greatly increased in other respects, and in which the emoluments of each class of officers should be as nearly assimilated to those of corresponding situations in 1797, as the alteration of the circumstances of the office would fairly admit. as Such a plan having been prepared accordingly, and approved by their lordships, they have directed, that the new establishment shall be considered taking effect from the 5th of January next, and that every new appointment or promotion which may take place from that day shall be considered as subject to the new regulations. In order to introduce this new system as early as may be practicable, yet with as little inconvenience as possible to the individuals whose interests may be affected, they have directed that every person whose situation is not to be abolished shall retain his present emoluments (subject to such payment to the superannuated fund as may be due therefrom), until, by promotion, or allowance for length of service, he shall be entitled, under the new regulations, to a salary at least equal to that which he now possesses. AFRICAN INSTITUTION.-Substance of the XVth REPORT of the African Institution. Fourteen years, say the directors, have now elapsed since the Bill for the Abolition of the Slave Trade became an act of the imperial parliament of Great Britain; but, it having been found, that the penalties of that act were not sufficient to deter British subjects from continuing the slave-trade, parliament, in the year 1811, enacted that every British subject, and every person residing within the British dominions, who should in anywise be concerned in the slave-trade, should be deemed a felon, and might be punished by transporta tion, for a term not exceeding fourteen years; and thus the British law at present remains. This act tended greatly to restrain, if not to extinguish, except in the Isle of France, the British slave-trade; and, whilst the nation continued at war, the slave-trade of other states was also much diminished; so that Africa was, for a time, relieved in a considerable degree from the desolating effects of this traffic. But the return of peace to Europe, having put an end to the belligerent right of search, was the signal for an extensive revival of the slave-trade in Africa, accompanied with more than its usual miseries. France and the Netherlands were, however, prevailed upon to sign treaties stipulating for the total and immediate abolition of this trade. The result of the efforts used with Spain and Portugal was not so favourable. Both these powers, however, agreed forthwith to confine their slave-trade within certain specified limits. Portugal still refused to fix any precise period for the final abandonment of it; but Spain consented totally to abolish it from the 30th of May, 1820, five months being allowed for completing the Voyages that might have been commenced prior to that period. Notwithstanding the stipulations entered into by France for the abolition of the slave-trade, the directors have had the painful duty, year after year, of exhibiting to the Institution numerous and irrefragable proofs of the continuance of this traffic by the subjects of that kingdom. They are much concerned to say, that the account which they have now to render of the state of the French slave trade is even more afflicting than any which has preceded it. Indeed, so multiplied and so flagrant have been of late the violations of the French law on this subject; to such an extent, and with such impunity, has this trade been carried on, almost without the affectation of disguise; that the evil, practically speaking, could scarcely have been greater had it been actually tolerated by the government of France. The statements thus made are confirmed by the circumstances developed in the case of a French slave-ship called the Sylph, detained by his majesty's sloop Redwing, captain Hunn, and brought into Sierra Leone, on the 10th February, 1819, with 364 slaves on board. From the examinations which took place on that occasion, it appeared that when captain Hunn fell in with the Sylph, in latitude 7 deg. 50 min. north, and longitude 16 deg. 30 min. west, she had been fiftyone days at sea from Bonny, where she had taken in 388 slaves twenty died before her detention, and four afterwards. It also appeared, that she was bound to Guadaloupe, where the traffic in slaves was stated to be carried on with scarcely any reserve. Another case, that of a ship called Le Rodeur, whilst it proves the little risk that is run by French subjects in carrying on the slave-trade, furnishes also a most striking exemplification of some of the worst horrors which attend the Middle Passage."The ship Le Rodeur, captain B of two hundred tons burthen, left Havre the 24th of January, 1819, for, the coast of Africa, and reached her destina. tion the 14th of March following, anchoring at Bonny in the river Calabar. The crew, consisting of twenty-two men, enjoyed good health during the outward voyage, and during their stay at Bonny, where they continued till the 6th of April. They had observed no trace of ophthalmia among the natives; and it was not until fifteen days after they had set sail on the return voyage, and the vessel was near the equator, that they perceived the first symptoms of this frightful malady. It was then remarked, that the negroes, who, to the number of one hundred and sixty, were crowded together in the hold, and between the decks, had contracted a considerable redness of the eyes, which spread with singular rapidity. No great attention was at first paid to these symptoms, which were thought to be caused only by the want of air in the hold, and by the scarcity of water which had already begun to be felt. At this time they were limited to eight ounces of water a day for each person, which quantity was afterwards reduced to the half of a wine glass. By the advice of M. Maignan, the surgeon of the ship, the negroes, who had hitherto remained shut up in the hold, were brought upon deck in succession, in order that they might breathe a purer air. But it became necessary to abandon this beexpedient, salutary as it was, cause many of those negroes, affected with nostalgia (i. e. a passionate desire to revisit their native land) threw themselves into the sea, locked in each other's arms. The disease which had spread itself so rapidly and frightfully among the Africans, soon began to infect all on board, and to create alarms for the crew. The sufferings of the people, and the number of the blind augmented every day; so that the crewpreviously alarmed by the apprehension of a revolt among the negroes, were seized with the farther dread of not being able to make the West Indies, if the only sailor who had hitherto escaped the contagion, and on whom their whole hope rested, should become blind like the rest.* The This calamity had actually be fallen the Leon, a Spanish vessel which the Rodeur met with on her passage, and the whole of whose crew, having become blind, were under the necessity of altogether abandoning the direction of their ship. They entreated the charitable interference of Rodeur reached Guadaloupe on the 21st of June, 1819, her crew being in a most deplorable condition. Three days after her arrival, the only man who, during the voyage, had withstood the influence of the contagion, was seized with the same malady. Of the negroes, thirty-nine had become perfectly blind, twelve had lost an eye, and fourteen were affected with blemishes more or less considerable. Of the crew, twelve lost their sight entirely, among whom was the surgeon; five became blind of one eye, one of them being the captain; and four were partially injured. It is stated, among other things, that the captain caused several of the negroes who were prevented in the attempt to throw themselves overboard, to be shot and hung, in the hope that the example might deter the rest from a similar conduct. But even this severity proved unavailing, and it became necessary to confine the slaves entirely to the hold during the remainder of the voyage. It is further stated, that upwards of thirty of the slaves who became blind were thrown into the sea and drowned, upon the principle that, had they been landed at Guadaloupe, no one would have bought them, and that the proprietors would consequently have incurred the expense of maintaining them, without the chance of any return! The Rodeur having afterwards returned to Havre, was refitted by the same owners, and dispatched early in the last year on a second slave voyage; and the command of her has been given to the same captain who had her in charge on the former voyage! In 1820 the French slave-trade had swelled to a more enormous extent than at any former period. During the first six or seven months of that year the coast of Africa is described as having actually swarmed with French slave ships. The French flag is eagerly sought after, not only by Spaniards, but by Americans and Portuguese, in order to protect their criminal traffic, it being the opprobrious distinction of France, that her flag alone can now be safely resorted to for the protection of slave ships to the northward of the equator. On the 4th of March, 1820, after a long chase, a vessel was boarded by the boats of his majesty's ship Tartar, commanded by Sir George Collier, which proved to be la Jeune Estelle, of Martinique, M. master. On being boarded he declared he had been plundered of his slaves, and that none remained on-board. His agitation and alarm however excited suspicion, and led to an examination of the vessel's hold. During this examination a sailor, who struck a cask which was tightly closed up, heard a faint voice issue from it, as of a creature expiring. The cask was immediately opened, when two girls of about twelve or fourteen years of age, in the last stage of suffocation, were found to be inclosed in it, and by this providential interposition were probably rescued from a miserable death. Sir George Collier, conceiving that other slaves might still be secreted, ordered a fresh search. The result was, that a negro man was rescued from death. A platform of loose boards had been raised on the water-casks of the vessel, so as to form an entre-pont, or between-decks, of twenty-three inches in height, which was the only space allotted for the accommodation of this unfortunate cargo of human beings. Beneath this platform, one of the boards resting on his body, jammed between two water-casks, appeared the above wretched individual, whom it was a matter of astonishment to find alive. It was recollected with horror by the officers of the Tartar, that, when they first began the chase of La Jeune Estelle, they had seen several casks floating past them, in which they now suspected that these wretched beings might have been enclosed, having been thrown overboard to elude the detection of his proceedings. Since the British establishment of Bathurst was formed on the island of St. Mary's, near the mouth of the Gambia, no French vessel has been allowed to enter or leave the river without undergoing an examination. Notwithstanding this restriction, however, a very considerable slave-trade is carried on by the French factors of Albreda throughout the whole length of the river Gambia. For, although the authorities at Bathurst do not permit any vessel with slaves on board to pass that settlement, yet they are carried in canoes to the left bank of the river, and thence conveyed by land to Cacho or Cazamens, whence they are shipped for the West Indies. By these means, the whole of that noble river, which would otherwise be entirely free from this traffic, is from one end to the other of its navigable course, exceeding 1,000 miles, made the scene of the atrocities of the slave trade; and thus, not only is the progress of civilization and improvement in that fertile region retarded, and the natives prevented from pursuing a course of peaceful industry, and beneficial intercourse, but wars are excited amongst them, and the surrounding districts are involved in depredation and blood. Enough has been said to show the enormous extent to which the slave-trade is carried on under the French flag, not only from Senegal and Goree, but along the whole extent of the African coast, for the supply of the colonies both of France and of other powers. If it were necessary, this point might be further proved by almost daily occurrences in different ports of France itself, where associations are formed with little or no disguise, and vessels fitted out for the prosecution of this nefarious traffic. These ships are known to have several times completed and renewed their atrocious enterprizes, without the smallest molestation or difficulty. The directors have not failed to communicate these painful facts to his majesty's government; and they know that strong representations have been made on the subject to the government of France; with what effect remains to be seen. In the month of June last, the minister of the marine announced, in the chamber of deputies, his intention of |